Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) (2004)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
: The PC version was released in 2005
: The Steam version was made available in 2008

Typical view of Carl "C.J." Johnson

Relevant Links:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Wikipedia.org)

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20121229:
The Grand Theft Auto series have a high metascore: 93 GTA III, 94 GTA: Vice City, 93 GTA: San Andreas, 90 GTA IV

Cut scene.

I recently acquired some of the games in a Black Friday bundle on Amazon.com, saving 80% instead of the typical Steam sale of 75%: GTA: San Andreas, GTA IV, GTA: Episodes from Liberty City, LA Noire

In any case, the only Grand Theft Auto I've played is the original: Grand Theft Auto (1997) and the only exposure I ever had of the modern 3D incarnation is from commercials. As such, all I could picture was the original, mission-driven Grand Theft Auto in 3D and with more violence. However, upon running Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I was surprised by the story and some of the gameplay mechanics being introduced.

Riding your first vehicle: a bicycle.

With that being said, I am not entirely fond of the bike controls. Related to this complaint deals with controlling the camera. Maybe there's something I'm missing. Of course, a positive trade off is the player can lean forward or back on the bike using the mouse, and in particular, one can do a wheelie. Holding the control button puts the character in position for a bunny hop and releasing the control button will execute the bunny hop.

Customize the look of your hair at the barbershop.

So the game definitely provides the player with little details such as adding a bunny hop to riding a bike. Other details include being able to change the radio station or changing your hair style. Of course, a change in hair style will cost money, and the combinations and possibilities are preset, but it's still nice to have some options. There also seems to be a car paint shop and tattoo shop, but I haven't visited them yet. Actually, the only reason I went to the barbers was because the game instructed me to.

A man's gotta eat.

So those were some cool features to include with the game. The next feature, on the other hand, is something I would expect to find in The Sims, but not in a Grand Theft Auto game: eating. I have to feed my character? Sure it adds to the realism, but I feel like it would also get in the way of just trying to finish the game. I guess I'll have to play more to see.

The game basically tells you that purple is bad and green is good.

Then the last game element I'll mention here is tagging. Spread throughout the city are purple tags and you should use your can of spray paint to cover the purple tag with your gang color, green.

Overall, I can see why this is a great game. One thing which is new to me, is the violence involved paired with the realistic setting. This contrasts with the violence in Street Fighter or Metal Gear Solid. In other words, the plot of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is plausible. In this sense, I'm on the edge of whether or not I'd want to play more of it. This contrasts with the feeling I had when I started playing Portal (2007) or Portal 2 (2011). I just couldn't stop until I needed sleep or finished them. In terms of open world games, I've played Red Faction: Guerrilla (2009) and would prefer to play that.

Portal 2 (PC) (2011)

20121225: (First Impressions)
This game has amazing graphics and the environment is breathtaking. Right from the start, the game felt familiar to the first game, Portal (2007), but with a greater sense of danger. In contrast, the first game started out on a much lighter note only to end on a dark one. As for the humor, there's the same frequency of humor in the sequel as the first, but in between moments of humor, the environment of the sequel evokes a darker atmosphere.

Check out what's drawn on the panels.

I can't wait to continue with the game.

Progress: (via timestamps of screenshots)
20121225 10:45 PM PT to 11:08 PM PT End @ Chapter 1 Room 5

[20150204 Edit][20181208 Edit]

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20121226:
I continued playing today and realized that I forgot to make in-depth comments on the voices. At the start of the game, the player is greeted by a robot with an English accent. I would liken the experience as if one is speaking to Ricky Gervais. Doing some research, I learned that the robot's name is Wheatley and is voiced by Stephen Merchant, a writer, director, comedian and actor who has collaborated with Ricky Gervais on various works including the British sitcom The Office.

Startling Wheatley.

Gameplay Log:
: Honestly, at least half the reason I enjoy playing the game is to listen to Wheatley's commentary.
: As an observation, this game seems to have longer loading time between levels than Portal has. As another observation, when the player enters an elevator, the next level loads with the player automatically facing towards the exit.
: Hahaha. This one cracked me up. "Well done. Here come the test results: You are a horrible person. That's what it says: A horrible person. We weren't even testing for that." - GLaDOS
: I like this new testing element: hard light bridges.

Hard light bridge.

: This one has a long set-up. "That jumpsuit you're wearing looks stupid. That's not me talking, it's right here in your file. On other people it looks fine, but right here a scientist has noted that on you it looks "stupid". Well, what does a neck-bearded old engineer know about fashion? He probably – Oh, wait. It's a she. Still, what does she know? Oh wait, it says she has a medical degree. In fashion! From France!" - GLaDOS
: I'm stuck at the entrance of the facility.

Progress: (via timestamps of screenshots)
20121226 8:31 AM PT to 8:50 AM PT End @ Chapter 1 Room 7
20121226 10:49 AM PT to 1:00 PM PT End @ Chapter 4 Room 20
20121226 2:14 PM PT to 3:27 PM PT End @ Chapter 6

[20121226][20181208 Edit]

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20121227 AM Hours:
Yesterday I thought the game was close to finishing, but it turns out there is much more.

Orange gel.

Gameplay Log:
: More story unfolds and I've encountered two new testing elements: orange and blue gel.
: I unlocked an achievement for looking at a painting of Cave Johnson and Caroline. GLaDOS says for some reason she knows the woman. At that point I sort of catch on to what she was getting at.

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20121227 Noon:

Gameplay Log:
: I get to a part in the game where GLaDOS repeats the name Caroline and tells the player character she has to go think a while. That's when I thought the situation seemed clear, but story can easily take an extra unsuspected twist. I'm excited.
: Aww. Not the saddest moment. But certainly sad. "Goodbye, Sir."
: I was really puzzled by one of the test chambers. (Chapter 7 Room 16)

The level that I had the most trouble with.

: In a different chamber, I wasn't stuck, but kept bouncing when I didn't want to. Then I remembered that you can press the control button to ignore the bouncing. Thank goodness.
: Observation: I like how the game adjusts for small errors - almost like a generalized auto-aim. It makes the game enjoyable as opposed to annoying.
: The ending is great, because there's still moments of tension regarding the player's fate.

Progress: (via timestamps of screenshots)
20121227 1:17 AM PT to 3:04 AM PT End @ Chapter 7 1972
20121227 12:07 PM PT to 2:25 PM PT End @ Chapter 8 Room 15
20121227 6:07 PM PT to 7:12 PM PT End.

Companion cube.

[20121227][20150204 Edit][20181208 Edit]

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20130113 Comment:
The main story for Portal 2 took me longer to finish than the main story for Portal; I spent about 9 to 10 hours playing Portal 2 (on my first playthrough) and I spent about 4 to 5 hours playing Portal (on my first playthrough).

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20140703:
Today my friend Josh and I played part of the game's co-op mode. More specifically, living in two separate states, we played the online co-op mode.

Co-op Mode: As Atlas, I placed a blue portal on the wall. 

Co-op Overview: In this mode you and a friend play as Atlas (me) and P-body (Josh). While puzzle solving is similar to the single-player mode, it differs in that each player is only able to fire a single portal color: Atlas firing blue and P-body firing orange.* As such, you and your friend must work together in order to solve the mode's puzzles.

One useful feature the game provides is the ability to see what the other player sees (default: Tab). Another useful feature, or in fact a necessary feature, is a countdown timer.** Use it to get pass events that require precise, coordinated (possibly simultaneous) actions.

We stopped playing somewhere in the middle of Course 2: Mass and Velocity.

Co-op Mode.

*20200808: Later on each player character has it's own set of portals, but must still work together to solve most puzzles.
**20200808: Theoretically less useful in 2020 where voice communication is common place. One remark I would make is that the countdown is consistent in timing, which would make it superior to a human countdown.

[20150204]

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20200808:
Today, my friends and I stopped trying to play Fall Guys because the servers were too full and not functioning properly. As such, "Cow" and I decided to play Portal 2.

Gameplay Log:
Using "Cow"s save file, we played a single chamber in each course.*
We played the first challenge level for number of portals.
: We used three and thought for a while about trying to use less.
: The main thing we tried was trying to stand on each other but the game seemed to prevent jumping after doing so.
We played then played for time.

Co-op Mode (20200808)

Moved onto the second challenge level
: Due to the flow of our initial solution we leaned towards going for time.
: We started with the "standard" solution (e.g., extending the platform near the exit)
: Small update: Don't need to extend the platform. Instead, prep a portal at the beam and when near the exit, fire a second portal to extend the beam which will catch the player characters.
: Big update: Cow managed to reach the other side directly. We proceeded to try and reproduce it. Cow eventually had it down with about a 50% success rate, though the success often came in streaks. My success rate was much lower, maybe 5% (I would estimate having succeeded about three times while trying between fifty and a hundred times).

Steam Game Time: 3.6 hours (session game time) / 17.3 hours (total game time)

*We didn't realize this until later.

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Summary:
Overall, this game is amazing. First, it has a fantastic story. Second, the gameplay is continually fresh. Third, the game has large, beautiful levels with attention to detail. Fourth, it has entertaining, often humorous, dialogue. And last, but not least, the game has a solid soundtrack and sound.

[20121227][20181208 Edit][20181222 Edit]

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Portal 2 (PC) (2011)

Title screen (artwork changes as you progress throughout the game).

Relevant Links:
Portal 2 Website
Portal 2 (Wikipedia.org)
Portal 2 (PC) (MetaCritic.com)

They Bleed Pixels (PC) (2012)

Overview: "They Bleed Pixels is a fiendishly difficult action platformer inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and classic horror." (Steam store description)

Half-Life (PC) (1998)

Half-Life (PC) (1998)

Main Menu Screen

Relevant Links:
Half-Life (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Half-Life (PC) (MetaCritic.com)

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I'm not sure when I first and last played Half-Life, but I'm guess it was in the year 2000 or 2001. I remember getting as far as beginning to encounter law enforcement of some sort.

Initial indication of a problem.

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20121224:
Today, I loaded up the game and played for about half an hour, not counting about eight minutes of cut scenes. Overall, I'm enjoying the game and it's a lot easier to play now than when I played it when I was in high school. While I'll get surprised on occasion, I don't carry the fear of defeating the enemies now the way I did when I played the game years ago. At least, I recall being quite afraid.

Headcrab + scientist = Headcrab zombie.

Note, however, my screenshots from when I first played the game a decade ago indicate I made a good amount of progress. More than I thought I would have made given how scared I remember myself being of the enemies. Thus, perhaps I wasn't afraid as I think I was, I just played the game slowly and cautiously, or I was afraid but forced myself to play because its such a good game.

ANOMALOUS MATERIALS

UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES...

Screenshot from circa 2000 (left). Screenshot from 20121224 (right).

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20121225:
Continuing to play today, I would have to say I have the most trouble with climbing up and down ladders. I seem to take a lot of my damage due to falling from a height.

Haha. Monsters are killing everybody and this guy says, "Well, there goes our grant money."

My first and last playthrough screenshots show me getting as far as turning on the power generator.

At one point I got two guards to help. They don't always follow properly.

Having turned on the fan and generator, I found myself stuck. After backtracking once or twice between the two, I decided to look at a FAQ. SPOILER. Turns out the solution is that after the generator has been started, the fan now runs fast enough to levitate Gordon to the ceiling. END SPOILER.

...UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES

OFFICE COMPLEX

WE'VE GOT HOSTILES

BLAST PIT...

HECU Marine eliminates a scientist.

I'd like to mention various tidbits to round off today's entry. First, while auto-aim makes the experience less realistic, I find it also makes the game more enjoyable. It's on by default, and while I'm pretty sure I could turn it off in the console, I'll leave it on during this playthrough. Second, it helps to save often and in fact create new save entries, as there were many times I would end up stuck in an area or stuck due to a glitch with respect to character movement. Third, the pistol is quite accurate, though this might have to do with the auto-aim feature. I like it best, and I like the shotgun second best. I largely overlooked the grenades until I started taking down the HECU ground sentries with them. Fourth, and final tidbit, the game has a great story and atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this game to any (standard) gamer.

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20150108:
Having played a little of Half-Life 2 yesterday and working my way down the top rated PC games on MetaCritic.com, I was thinking to play a bit more of Half-Life today. Of course, I first had to search for any existing save files I might have backed up. Finally I found some and they seem to be where I left off (BLAST PIT). However, upon loading the furthest poitn of progress, I couldn't make heads or tails of where I was! As it turns out, I had basically got to the end of BLAST PIT!

"Follow it until you come to the big pipe, then climb on top of it and turn the valve. It will extend the pipe allowing you to jump across to the pipe opposite it. Crawl into the gap in the mesh and follow the pipe. Soon it will break under your weight and you will end up in a room full of crates. Break open the crates to find some laser trip mines. Head out into the hallway."

Remark: Another problem I had was not holding the use (E) button long enough on the valve. You have to hold it in order to fully extend the pipe.

Then in the ON A RAIL chapter, I got stuck at the Blast Doors. Apparently, however, you only have to walk up to them for them to open. My goodness.

So dumb! Haha. At one point during ON A RAIL, there's two guards behind boxes. But you can't bomb them ahead of time, because I guess they don't spawn until you trigger the event.

Finally at 1:20AM PT I finish ON A RAIL and reach APPREHENSION. And so, I'm apparently less than halfway done. ;_;

...(very end of) BLAST PIT

ON A RAIL

APPREHENSION (very start of)...

Remark: Examining my save files, I noticed that they get bigger and bigger as the game progresses! Why would a save file have to get bigger!?! Starting with 000 (1,178 KB) to 006 (1,765 KB), drops back down 007 (197 KB) and then begins to increase again all the way until the recent save 038 (3,330 KB). Between 007 and 038, there is one except: 018 (68 KB).

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (PC) (2004)

20121224:
I checked this game out today for nine minutes. It was interesting.

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20130129:
The single-player mode, Tour of Duty, was a fun way for unexperienced FPS players like myself to become accustomed to Counter-Strike. The mode consists of maps with objectives to meet and there's no performance pressure, because the enemy AI bots are dumb (at least at my chosen level of difficulty). The player is also allotted several ally AI bots.

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20170521 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 102 minutes (total game time)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Two single-player modes: "Tour of Duty" and "Deleted Scenes"
+ AI system

Mission

Minor Con:
- Not backwards compatible with Counter-Strike (1999)

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Summary:
I haven't put a lot of time into the game, but a quick search will show that Counter-Strike 1.6 is easily more popular, with players choosing between Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike: Source, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive depending on various personal preferences such as graphics and movement.

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Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (PC) (2004)

Relevant Links:
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (Wikipedia.org)
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (Steam Store Page)

Castle Crashers (PC) (2012)

Castle Crashers (PC) (2012)
Released on Xbox Live Arcade 2008.

Relevant Links:
Castle Crashers (Wikipedia.org)

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This game was released for the Xbox 360 back in 2008, but not owning an Xbox, I didn't know about the game until its recent release on Steam.

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20121221:
In the morning I played as the Blue Knight with a friend who played as the Red Knight. When she left, I played with another friend as the Red Knight and at first he played as the Orange Knight, but then later he switched to the Gray Knight.

Tip: If you're using the keyboard, look up the key mappings, because the game only gives controls using Xbox controller keys.

Note: The character sprints after pressing left or right. You will see a dust trail.

While playing with my second friend, the bandwidth at my home was being used elsewhere in the house and the game deals with lag by having all the players wait until the player with the lag to catch up. Eventually this made the game unplayable and we had to end the multiplayer session.

Note: Swords you have picked up are sent to the blacksmith. Pets you have picked up are sent to someone too.

Note: The game starts you off in a castle where all the tutorials are. You can access this area any time by going to Home Castle from the map screen. Once in the level, walk left.

Note: The game saves when you return to the map screen. In fact, I played a round with my second friend where our multiplayer game was disbanded before I made my skill point assignments. When I recreated a multiplayer game, I was able to assign my skill points.

Later in the afternoon I continued playing with the Red Knight and my friend he changed to leveling the Blue Knight. However, we got to the guy that plays the cannon organ couldn't beat him. It's possible my friend's lower level character was an obstacle.

[20130124]

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As of 20130124:
1) Last played 20130113.
2) 0.9 hrs last two weeks / 15.6 hrs on record

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20140103:
Today I booted up the game and the video was behaving sluggishly but I didn't know why. Eventually, I discovered the cause was due to an old x360ce configuration file. After removing the x360ce setup, the game was able to boot and run smoothly.

Torchlight (PC) (2009)

20121209:
I've less than an hour of this game, and thus far I'd say the gameplay is solid. On the other hand, I found the game's cartoonish graphics to be unappealing. These graphics might work for a different type of game or if I was in the right mood, but it's an action RPG and I'm not in the mood to play an action RPG with cartoonish graphics.

Fishing.

Another deterrent to playing more was the time investment I might have to put into the game. Where leveling is involved, one might be faced with grinding and I'm a little sick of grinding for the time being.

In response to my time investment worries, I did a Google search, and several sources put the game time for the main story at around 15 hours. At that point, I had realized how much time watching a speed run would save (a speed run would probably be 4 hours long). On the other hand, I already own the game, and watching the speed run would deprive me of the game's entertainment value.

Attacking.

With that being said, I would probably prefer to put hours of my time into one of games in The Elder Scrolls series (e.g., The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) over playing more of Torchlight. From what I've seen, The Elder Scrolls series is more realistic looking than the Torchlight series. Furthermore, from what I've heard, The Elder Scrolls series offers much more customization than the Torchlight series.

Steam Game Time: 59 minutes

Equipment and Inventory .

[20130127][20181208 Edit]

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Torchlight (PC) (2009)

Relevant Links:
Torchlight (Wikipedia.org)
Torchlight (Steam Store Page)